Newbie Question - Whats up with wax?

Some bottles are coated in wax. What gives? Besides making that bottle an incredible pain in the arse to open, does the wax serve any purpose besides looking fancy? I feel like I need Mr Miyagi to get the wax off..

By coating the caps with wax, brewers are trying to prevent oxidation by not letting as much air in through the cap. Ideally, you will be able to age bottles longer because of the wax compared to regular capping.

The wax serves to reinforce the seal, adding some additional insurance against potential oxidation.

Removing the wax can be done a number of different ways. I typically just score the entire area around the cap enough to allow me to get my standard opener latched on. Then, just pop it open as normal.

I like the wax for aging but do agree that it is difficult to open
I learned the hard way last year when I hosted a tasting and toward the end of the night after numerous beers
tried to open a bottle of the Bruery CUIR and sliced my thumb
drinking the bottle helped the pain but will definitely use a different method next time removing some was

To open: take a knife and move from bottom of wax to the cap. Peel off. This makes it very easy to open.
Also you can take a knife and make an "x" in the top of the cap an peel wax off like a banana.
It does take a little practice.

Some bottles are coated in wax. What gives? Besides making that bottle an incredible pain in the arse to open, does the wax serve any purpose besides looking fancy? I feel like I need Mr Miyagi to get the wax off..

Looks like Backlash is probably not waxing their bottles anymore. And "easier to open" is one of the reasons, and keeping costs lower. That being said, their wax dipped, and then brass knuckle stamped top is bad ass.

I was thinking that with the intelligence displayed in some of the clips in the best beer videos thread, there must have been some nimrod somewhere who tried to melt the wax off with a blowtorch...or microwave...

It's also a way to persuade people subcontiously that the beer is extra special and thus worthy of a higher markup. It's like how wax seal stamps on envelopes look all fancy. Surely the sender wrote it with a feather dipped in ink.

Waxed caps are fine and simple to remove, it's the waxed swing tops that I hate. Sweetwater's 1L 2010 Festive Ale took me 30 minutes to open and I had to vacuum the kitchen to get up all the little pieces.

Waxed caps are fine and simple to remove, it's the waxed swing tops that I hate. Sweetwater's 1L 2010 Festive Ale took me 30 minutes to open and I had to vacuum the kitchen to get up all the little pieces.

I hate the wax purely for being a pain in the ass to open. I had an Olde Hickory this past weekend that I couldn't get the damn wax off of. Frustrating.

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That's where having a combination of a wine corkscrew and a bottle opener all in one tool is useful. It's a good grip and the length gives you plenty of leverage. I've had no trouble getting through wax with that thing.

Waxed caps are fine and simple to remove, it's the waxed swing tops that I hate. Sweetwater's 1L 2010 Festive Ale took me 30 minutes to open and I had to vacuum the kitchen to get up all the little pieces.

I take it no one was paying attention to Ray Daniels tweet fest on wax about a month ago? He went into it IN depth, from type of wax, to why wax? If a beer does not get any oxygen thru the crown, how can it further develop, therefore what's the point? It was educational to say the least.

I take it no one was paying attention to Ray Daniels tweet fest on wax about a month ago? He went into it IN depth, from type of wax, to why wax? If a beer does not get any oxygen thru the crown, how can it further develop, therefore what's the point? It was educational to say the least.